A conventional round baler is typically pulled through a field by a tractor where it gathers crop material, such as windrowed hay, and forms the crop material into a bale. The baler typically includes a pickup for gathering the crop material and providing it to an adjacent baling chamber where the crop material is formed into a bale.
The baler has three general operational cycles: a bale-forming cycle; a bale-wrapping cycle, and a bale-ejecting cycle. During the bale forming cycle, the baler is pulled through the field and the pickup provides crop material to the baling chamber. The baling chamber operates forming belts to form the received crop material into a bale. Once the bale is fully formed and the bale-forming cycle complete, the operator stops pulling the baler through the field, stops the pickup to cease providing crop material to the baling chamber, and begins the bale wrapping cycle. Typically the bale is wrapped using an automated mechanism while the tractor is idle. Once the wrapping cycle is complete, the bale-ejecting cycle begins in which the wrapped bale is ejected from the baler. After ejection of the wrapped bale, the operator once again starts pulling the baler through the field and restarts the pickup to again provide crop material to the baling chamber, and restarts the bale forming belts of the baling chamber during a new bale-forming cycle.